• volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      12·
      13 hours ago

      I love this statue! It’s in Novosibirsk. I’ve always wanted to go there and see it in real life. Once the war is finally over and Russia is free again I’ll pay a visit to that little rodent.

      • Dasus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        3 hours ago

        Russia is free again

        I really wish that will happen as well, but when has Russia actually been free?

  • osanna@thebrainbin.org
    38·
    18 hours ago

    I had companion rats. I had 7 of them (almost all rescued). they’re smart little guys. they can be toilet trained and you can teach them all sorts of tricks. I miss my rats :(

    • scbasteve@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      15 hours ago

      I have three right now. Theyre very sweet little guys with intense personality. It should be a crime how little their life span is.

      • osanna@thebrainbin.org
        20·
        15 hours ago

        it sucks that animals that can be SO affectionate (they pee on you to claim you as theirs lol) only live for 2-3 years, 4 if you’re really really really lucky. It sucks :/

        • volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          14·
          13 hours ago

          I assume you didn’t get new ones because there is no replacement for the band of 7 that you initially had?

          I had that with my cat. He lived for 21 years, we got him when I was in kindergarten. I could not imagine getting a new cat. I miss him, but I don’t miss having a cat, I miss this cat. I’m not sure if it is better or worse the longer the lifespan is, I imagine losing a beloved pet after 3 years is brutal.

    • SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      13·
      13 hours ago

      Everyone needs to consider donating to them!

      I have a monthly donation set up with them and get a monthly report how many mines a rat managed to find

      They were also hit quite hard by the usaid shutdown, so they really can use any help they can get

      Also: !petrats@lemmy.world needs more activity

      • frog@feddit.ukEnglish
        7·
        7 hours ago

        Thank you for writing more about APOPO. My wife and I don’t gift each other things anymore. We choose a nonprofit to donate to on Christmas, anniversary, or birthdays. APOPO will be on my list.

        Really cool.

    • spinnetrouble@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      12·
      21 hours ago

      Thanks for the link. This is really cool work! Search and pre-rescue rats are a small part of what Apopo does: they mostly do unexploded mine clearance and tuberculosis detection! 😳

  • ouRKaoS@lemmy.todayEnglish
    17·
    20 hours ago

    Me in collapsed building, seeing a rat with a backpack:

    HOLY SHIT; NIMH IS REAL!?

  • Pyr@lemmy.caEnglish
    19·
    23 hours ago

    They should train them to bring down a little can on a string so you can talk to them 😂

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.todayEnglish
        16·
        19 hours ago

        Could you imagine? You’re trapped after an earthquake, and convinced you’re going to die, and a little rat comes up, and you begin to get scared he’s going to chew on your face, but he hands you a Bluetooth earpiece, and scurries off to get his treat. You pop it in your ear, and your rescuers are on the other end!

        I’d want to meet that rat when it was over. Give him an entire granola bar.

    • osanna@thebrainbin.org
      17·
      14 hours ago

      if you get rats, you can’t have just one. they’re highly social and need other rats. two is the absolute minimum, but three is better. please don’t get just one. it’s cruel.

      eta: also, they need a big cage. since they’ll be spending 20-23 hours a day in it, they need a lot of space. those little hamster cages won’t do (they’re too small for hamsters too tbh). the king of rat cages is the double critter nation. I had one. it was epic. they had soooo much room

      they also need at LEAST one hour of playtime outside of the cage. but that’s just the minimum. if you can give them more, that’s even better.

      sorry for the rant. a lot of people don’t realise how to PROPERLY look after rats. also, I’m highly passionate about rats and giving them best life possible, and since they only live a few short years, you will want to give them the best lif le possible

    • ThanksForAllTheFish@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      17 hours ago

      Kind of true, but it’s more like an ant scent marking. They know this is a place that’s safe (rats have been here). With good absorbent natural substrate in the cage, and wiping down their free roam area if needed, it’s mostly unnoticeable. I like to compare it to a person needing to change their t-shirt every day, probably not a deal-breaker for interacting, unless you don’t clean for way too long.

      • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        11·
        16 hours ago

        It’s not “kind of true”, they mark scent with urine. And they’ll mark all their cage mates too, and that includes their human.

        But yes, rats are tiny and don’t pee on you and your house much, that’s true. They also absolutely have bladders (what a weird myth that is) and almost always potty train themselves to do most of their urinating in certain spots when not marking scent.

    • Triumph@fedia.io
      2·
      1 hour ago

      Which means they’re food driven, which means you can teach them tricks using special food rewards (different from their regular food).